The global aviation industry is currently said to contribute 1.5-2.5% of the planet’s overall CO2 emissions, and to be one of the fastest growing sources of such emissions. Whilst there are global aviation targets of neutral emissions growth, these aspirations are complicated by a growth in the sector generally as passenger numbers double and runway capacity increases. A key strategy for achieving these targets is CORSIA.

CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) is a global market-based measure adopted on 2016 by all member states of ICAO, a landmark scheme intended to offset annual increases in CO2 emissions from international civil aviation above 2020 levels. As such, the CORSIA will only apply to emissions growth and not to existing emission levels.

Are my operations affected?

In general, most business aircraft operators will not be affected, while some will be required to participate. There are several important exemptions which many operators will fall under. Consider your operations against the following exemptions (recall this applies only to international flight, domestic flights are not covered):

Operators that emit fewer than 10,000 tonnes of CO2 in international flights annually (Most current-generation business jets would have to fly at least 2,000 hours or more per year to reach the threshold.)

Aircraft under 5,700kg MTOW

Humanitarian flights (medical, disaster relief, firefighting etc.)

Carbon Offsetting

Starting from 2020, aircraft operators affected by the scheme will have to buy carbon offset credits annually. Offsetting allows an operator to compensate for the emission by financing a reduction in CO2 discharge elsewhere. While it does not require businesses to reduce the emissions produced, it provides and environmentally effective option for sectors where the potential of further reductions is limited.

Offsetting is also more effective than a tax, as a carbon tax merely requires companies to pay for their emissions, without any guarantees that the payment will lead to any emissions reductions.

How does it work with EU ETS?

There remains some uncertainty on how the CORSIA may affect the status of the EU ETS and other new planned schemes.

CORSIA has yet to establish a system of sanctions for non-compliance and enforcement criteria, which must exist (at least until 2021) alongside with the EU ETS sanctions and enforcement criteria. It is unclear how the CORSIA and the EU ETS sanctions systems will interface.

In 2017, a Regulation (2017/2392) came into force amending the EU ETS by continuing current limitations of scope for aviation activities in order to prepare to implement CORSIA from 2021. This means that intercontinental flights departing or landing in the EU from or to non-EU countries continue to be exempt from the EU ETS. The Regulation will review the position once the nature of CORSIA is more certain.

How Skylegs contributes?

The CORSIA scheme involves the affected operators to implement an MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, Verification) system for all international flights. The purpose is to collect the data of international aviation CO2emissions on an annual basis.

Skylegs platform already has safety compliance tools to simplify the audit procedures by having all the necessary data reports (For example: ECCAIRS reporting system). As the required data carbon missions monitoring is put in our system by the operators when operating a flight (fuel burn), the same can be done for the CORSIA scheme by generating a report with international flights and calculating their carbon discharge.

More information:

If you are unsure if you’re operations are covered or if you have any other questions about CORSIA, visit the ibac.org website or contact the following e-mail address: corsia@ibac.org